Regina cast the dark curse twice. Once she used the heart of her her favorite horse and nothing happened. I believe she became frustrated and trade Maleficent for her sleeping curse (not shown) and when that didn’t pan out, she stole it back and recast the curse with her father’s (Henry) heart. That what Maleficent meant about the void in her heart. She would have to sacrifices the only person she still loved and loved her. In 3B it turns out Rumpelle wanted Zelena to cast it(explains that whole arc), yet she was in loved with him so he said “forget it.” And he apparently really wanted a descent of Cora just because she broke his heart and it would spite her.

It seems with such a big cast, there will always be a few characters nowadays who get spotlighted less than others. In the fall, we saw loads of Emma as she helped Elsa, but minimal screentime from Snow and Charming. Now it’s the opposite (though probably not for long if the whole “dark Emma” thing plays out). In any case, there’s a lot of faces to juggle into the story, for better or for worse. In this respect, I find Belle and Will peculiar. They are two characters who have habitually been in the background, but still listed as series regulars. Seems like they didn’t know what to do with either of them, so they put them together. I wonder if they have a bigger plan for Will Scarlet or if they’re making up his involvement as they go along. Because as of now, it’s a lot of unfulfilled potential in bringing him onto the show this year.

Ahhh I had forgotten all about this, thanks. But it still doesn’t add up… Maleficent said she traded a sleeping curse to Regina in exchange for the curse?

For me the what the heck moment was when Regina yelled at Pinocchio, it came out of nowhere to me.

Oops. Thirties. Emma is in her thirties. I hate autocorrect.